Formics (Ender's Game)
The Formics, aka Buggers, are a fictional insectoid alien species from the Ender's Game series of science fiction novels by Orson Scott Card. The term "Formic" is derived from formica, the Latin word for ant. It can also be understood to represent that which is formless until given a shape. The term "Bugger" is a pejorative one used by humans in expressing their fear of the unknown Formics, who are to them the very embodiment of terror. Biology The Formic species consists of hive-minded colonies that are philotically directed by queens. As evidenced in Mazer Rackham's victory in the Second Invasion, if a queen dies, all the drones under her control lose their intelligence and ability to function immediately. However, in Xenocide, The Hive Queen has a memory that associates with the word rogue, most likely meaning that 'drones' have some degree of sentience and can escape the influence of a queen. Formic queens communicate instantaneously via philotic connections and can even do so with other species, although this is more difficult. Formics live in vast underground colonies that are pitch black and confusing for humans to navigate, leading to the assumption that Formics make use of sensory apparatus different from that of humans (i.e. other than the range of the electromagnetic spectrum visible to humans). There are other conflicting theories, however; in the first novel they were said to have artificial lighting. In Xenocide, Ender claims they view things via heat signature. No male in the species has its own individuality. Each is a drone who is philotically controlled by a queen. This connection is instantaneous and consequentially, causes the death of a queen to kill all of her drones. Contact with Humans The Formics, known by humans as Buggers, were far more advanced than humans when the two races first made contact. They had colonized several worlds and Earth was habitable to them. Their first attack on Earth, called by humans the First Invasion, proved to them that humans were not a hive minded species. They assumed that humans were not sentient and this lead to a terrible series of wars. The First Invasion left the human race ravaged and racing to make leaps in technology. Years later, the Formics returned to Earth and made another attempt in colonization. This attempt failed as well, but the Hive Queens{C} realized that we were sentient and made the decision never to attack Earth again. The humans, who had no way to communicate with the Formics, feared another invasion and over an eighty year period they prepared for war. What was known as the Third Invasion was an assault on the Formic home world led unknowingly by Ender Wiggin. The humans destroyed the planet with their molecular disruption device, called the Little Doctor. The Aftermath After the destruction of the Formics on their colonies and the complete destruction of their home world, the humans assumed there were none left. Ender Wiggin, the commander{C} of the fleet, found the one remaining cocoon on one of the many Formic colony worlds. After three thousand years of roaming the universe, Ender found a home for the Formics on Lusitania. They prospered here in spite of the Descolada virus. The Hive Queen is the central consciousness and physical embodiment of the group mind the Formics from Orson Scott Card's Ender's Game series. Along with the rest of her kind, the Hive Queen is regarded as the second-discovered ramen species. Physically, she controls her large colony of insect-like entities through faster-than-light philotic connections, rendering the individuals of the race as extensions of her body. The Hive Queen is also the title of a fictional book written by Ender Wiggin under the pseudonym, Speaker for the Dead, usually sold coupled with [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hegemon_of_Earth The Hegemon]. Ender's Game During the Third Invasion, it became evident to the Buggers that they could not survive the war with the humans. In order to prevent their total destruction, The Formics prepared a location on one of their colonies for the Hive Queen to be left dormant as a cocoon. Using ansible communication, the Hive Queen accessed the memories of the human race's child prodigy and unknowing battle commander, Ender Wiggin, to better understand him. Using what they learned, the Formics made the landscape on one of their colonies close to Earth to look like that of Ender's most powerful memory (Fairyland, from the pseudo-sentient Mind Fantasy Game). Arriving as a colonist to that world, Ender eventually discovers the Hive Queen and takes her with him while exploring other colonies. It is revealed that the Hive Queen's philotic connections allow her to communicate directly to Ender's mind. This is difficult at first, because as a queen she never needed words to communicate- the Formics instantly understood her. She gradually learns to communicate with him, however, and he promises to find her a new home for her to respawn her species. In addition, the Hive Queen helps Ender to write down the information concerning her life and the misunderstanding that led to the war. His finished work, titled "The Hive Queen," and published under the name "Speaker for the Dead," creates great sympathy for the Formics which generally leads humanity to come to regard Ender's actions as an evil act of xenocide. Ender travels to two dozen of the Hundred Colonies in this search, which due to the effects of relativistic space travel takes around three thousand years. While Ender aged only a few decades over this period, the Hive Queen is shown to have been fully aware in real time due to her philotic nature. She has become anxious to be released. Speaker for the Dead and onwards Eventually Ender responds to a call for a Speaker for the Dead from Lusitania, a small Catholic colony on the only planet of the third-discovered sentient race, the Pequeninos (the Piggies). Due to the fear of damaging the culture of the Piggies, the colony is restricted in growth as ordered by the Starways Congress. The Hive Queen points out to Ender that this makes the planet the best candidate for a new home, although he is unsure of whether the three races will be capable of living together in peace. Nonetheless, he agrees to investigate the possibility. On the planet, the Hive Queen occasionally makes cryptic statements to Ender that she has made contact with the Pequeninos (philotically) and has shared information with them and agreed to live there in peace. After Ender and the Lusitanian colonists become more familiar with the culture of the Pequeninos, they form a treaty and agree to release the Hive Queen from dormancy once they can find a way to protect her from the native virus, the Descolada. release her thousands of eggs, "undoing" Ender's act of xenocide. Category:Enemy Faction